International System

of Units (SI)
1. Physical quantity is a physical property of a material or system that can be
quantified by measurement.

 а) describes a physical phenomenon

 b) describes a property of matter

2. Measurement of physical quantity
Measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity
is as compared to a basic reference quantity of the same kind, which is
conventionally taken as a unit of measure.

A- measured physical quantity

C- a unit of measure of a physical quantity
n - numeric value of the physical quantity
А=n∙C

 Example: m=10kg;
l= 16m;
v= 10m/s;
F=500N
Краток историски преглед на развојот на мерните единици

 За првпат идејата за воведување на општи единици за мерење се

јавува во 1791 г. во Франција.
 Лаплас (1749-1827 г.) го предложува метричкиот систем.
 Принципи на кои се заснова метричкиот систем :
- неменлив прототип земен од природата
- декаден систем
 Основни единици во метричкиот систем
- метар
- килограм
The group of intemationally accepted standard units is called the metric system or 'the international system', abbreviated as
SI from 'Le Systeme International d‘Unites‘ in French. In this system, each measurement is a comparison with the
fundamental SI unit of the related quantity.
The International system of units (SI) is an international decimal system of weights and measures
derived from the metric system of measurement (Adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 10.1960)

 Based on:
 7 base units
 2 supplementary units
 lots of derived units
 Basic SI quantities and units

Basic SI quantities and units

quantity unit
Name of quantity Symbol of dimension Name of Symbol of
quantity unit unit
Length l L metre m
Mass m M kilogram kg
Time t T second s
Thermodynamic θ Kelvin K
temperature T
Electric current I I Ampere A
Luminous intensity J J candela cd
Amount of substance n N mole mol
 International System of Units (SI)
meter, kilogram and second

Etalon is a materialized measure, a measuring instrument or a measuring system

intended to define, realize, save or reproduce one unit, which is a sample with
the highest accuracy.
The meter (m) is the unit used to measure length and distance. One meter is
defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 second.
The kilogram (kg) is used to calculate mass, which is a measure of the amount of
matter in an object or substance. This measurement is based on the mass of a
sample of platinum-iridium, with shape of a cylinder with a diameter of 39mm
and a height of 39mm, held at the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures in Sèvres, France.
The second (s) is the SI unit of time. It is defined in terms of the radiation
frequency at which atoms of the element cesium change from one state to
another.
 Supplementary SI quantities and units
Supplementary SI quantities and units
quantity unit
Name of quantity dimension Name of unit Symbol
planar angle (unit of solid А radian rad
angle in 2 dimension)

unit of solid angle in 3 Ω steradian sr

dimension

This category was abolished in 1995 and this units are now considered an SI
derived units.
 Derived SI quantities and units

SI derived units are units of measurement derived from the seven base units
specified by the International System of Units (SI). They are either
dimensionless or can be expressed as a product of one or more of the base
units, possibly scaled by an appropriate power of exponentiation.

); ;
; (;
Prefixes and symbols for bigger value of
measurement units

value prefix symbol

1018 eksa E
1015 peta P
1012 tera T
109 giga G
106 mega M
103 kilo k
102 hekto h
101 deka da
Prefixes and symbols for smaller value of measurement units

value prefix symbol

10-1 deci d
10-2 centi c
10-3 milli m
10-6 micro μ
10-9 nano n
10-12 piko p
10-15 femto f
10-18 ato a
General rules for writing physical quantities and unit measures

Symbol of Symbol of
Name
должинаof physical physical unit
quantity quantity m=10kg;
l= 16m;
Length m kg v= 10m/s;
Mass l m F=500N
Time t s
Thermodynamic
temperature T K
Electric current
I A m/s =
Luminous intensity J cd
Amount of substance n mol
Solved tasks:
 Convert:
1. 108 km/h in m/s;
1km =1000m; 1h = 60min∙60s = 3600 s
108 km/h = 108 = 30
2. 13 nC in C;
1nC = 10-9C
13 nC = 13∙10-9C
3. 18 MN in GN;
1MN = 106 N; 1GN = 109N
18∙106 ∙103 ∙10-3 N= 18 ∙ 106+3 ∙10-3 N = 18 ∙109 ∙10-3 N=
18∙10-3 GN = 0.018 GN
4. 20 min in h;
1h = 60 min; 1min = =h
20min = 20 h = 0.3333 h
Homework assignments
1. 22 GC во kC;
2. 20 km/s во m/s;
3. 55 m/s во km/s;
4. 0,21 nC во μC;
5. 18 GN во kN;
6. 188 kC во MC;
7. 20 s во min;
8. 15 m/s во km/h
9. 480s vo min
10. 72km/h vo km/min